Arkansas Coaching Vacancy: Ole Miss Rebels' Chris Beard a Candidate?

Is Ole Miss Rebels head coach Chris Beard a candidate for the recently-vacated Arkansas Razorbacks' head coaching position?

Mar 2, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball head coach Eric Musselman was hired away by the USC Trojans on Thursday, and the Hogs are now searching for their new program CEO.

One of the first names to circulate? Ole Miss Rebels head coach Chris Beard.

It makes sense for Beard's name to appear in prominent coaching searches. He has a 10-4 record as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament, including a Final Four appearance in 2019. His stops with Texas Tech (2016-21) and Texas (2021-23) were wildly successful, and Arkansas is a very desirable job in college basketball, having won a national championship in 1994 and making multiple trips to the Final Four and Elite Eight throughout program history.

It's still early, but Beard's name is already tied to coaching hot boards in Fayetteville, and On3's Pete Nakos believes that he is "immediately in the mix" for the Hogs' job. Things can change quickly in coaching searches, and Beard may elect to remain in Oxford regardless, but there's no denying that Arkansas has a successful program history.

Ole Miss and Beard did agree to new contract details last month, seemingly inking a commitment between the two parties for the foreseeable future, but it's no secret that Beard is one of the top coaches in college basketball, and he will be a coveted commodity when strong jobs like these come open.

Beard and the Rebels failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in his first year in Oxford, finishing the campaign with a mark of 20-12 overall and 7-11 within the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss was also eliminated in its first game of the SEC Tournament, falling to the Texas A&M Aggies 80-71 in Nashville.

The Rebels turned down an NIT invitation following the SEC Tournament with Beard citing "timing" as the reason to proceed with the offseason and recruiting efforts.

"Firstly, I have a lot of experience and respect for the NIT," Beard said. "When I was with Coach [Bob] Knight, I learned the history of the NIT and everything it's done for college basketball and the history of the game all the way up until the current model. Simply, I think timing is everything and the timing's just not right for us to continue the season in any of these tournaments."